Once the produce has been gathered from the field, the owner should not wait until the deadline of bi’ur to separate and distribute the terumot and ma’asrot. Rather, he should separate them immediately and give each portion to its proper recipient, as the Torah commands. As the Sages teach: when a mitzva comes to hand, one should not let the opportunity pass (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Bo 9).
However, until the first pilgrimage festival passes, he has not yet neglected a positive mitzva. Once a festival passes and he has still not given the gifts, he has neglected that mitzva. This first-festival deadline is learned from the Torah’s command that when a person goes up on pilgrimage, he must bring with him the sacred obligations already in his possession – such as vowed offerings, ma’aser sheni, and ma’aser behema. As it says: “You shall come there, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, and the contribution of your hand” (Devarim 12:5–6). Therefore, one who is exempt from going up on pilgrimage – for example, because he is ill – does not neglect this mitzva by failing to bring his vowed offerings or ma’aser behema on the first festival.
If three pilgrimage festivals pass and he still has not brought or given these obligations, he violates the Torah prohibition against delay, as it says: “When you vow a vow to the Lord your God, do not delay in paying it, for the Lord your God will surely demand it of you, and it will be a sin in you… What comes out of your lips you shall guard…” (Devarim 23:22–24). The Sages explain that once three festivals have passed, he is considered to have delayed fulfilling his obligation. This applies not only to offerings, but also to terumot that must be given to the kohen and to ma’asrot that must be given to the levi and the poor (Rosh Ha-shana 4a; Tosafot, Rosh Ha-shana 4a, s.v. tzedakot and u-ma’asrot; MT, Laws of Sacrificial Procedure 14:13).
In addition, as explained above, section 12, there is a distinct mitzva that applies to terumot and ma’asrot: bi’ur ma’asrot. Its purpose is to complete the fulfillment of the mitzva of separating and distributing terumot and ma’asrot from all the produce of the first three years of the shemita cycle by Pesaḥ of the fourth year, and from all the produce of the fourth, fifth, and sixth years by Pesaḥ of the seventh year.[10]
[10]. As we learned in Rosh Ha-shana 4a–b, ma’asrot and tzedaka obligations follow the same basic timetable as offerings one is obligated to bring: one should bring or give them by the next pilgrimage festival. If that festival passes and he has not done so, he has neglected a positive mitzva. If three festivals pass, he violates the prohibition of bal te’aḥer, “do not delay.” Tosafot writes likewise (Rosh Ha-shana 4a, s.v. u-ma’asrot).
The connection to the festivals is clear in the case of offerings: the festivals are when one goes up to the Temple, and that is when he is expected to bring the offerings he has undertaken. If he fails to do so, he has neglected a positive mitzva; if three festivals pass, he violates a prohibition. With terumot and ma’asrot, however, the connection is less obvious, since these gifts are distributed throughout the Land. Why, then, should they depend on the festivals? Because festival joy is meant to be shared. The kohanim, levi’im, and poor must receive their gifts before the festival so that they too can rejoice in its meals. In this way, these gifts are also bound to the rhythm of the pilgrimage festivals.
Regarding tzedaka, Rava states that one who delays giving what he obligated himself to give violates bal te’aḥer immediately (Rosh Ha-shana 6a). Tosafot explains that this applies only when poor people are present and need the pledged tzedaka or ma’aser. If no poor people are present, bal te’aḥer is violated only after three festivals have passed (Rosh Ha-shana 4a, s.v. tzedakot).
The same principle applies to ma’aser ani and to the gifts owed to kohanim and levi’im who are poor. If those in need are present, the gifts must be given immediately; delaying them violates bal te’aḥer. If no poor recipients are present, the gifts must be given by the next festival. Failing to do so neglects a positive mitzva, and after three festivals one violates bal te’aḥer (see MT, Laws of Sacrificial Procedure 14:13; Mahari Kurkus to MT, Laws of Sacrificial Procedure 14:13. Rashba and Ran understand the matter differently, as explained in the Herḥavot).
If one leaves the produce as tevel, Tosafot maintains that he has not yet violated either the positive mitzva or bal te’aḥer. Since the gifts were never separated, the deadlines for giving them have not yet begun; only at the time of bi’ur ma’asrot must he rectify the produce (Rosh Ha-shana 4a, s.v. u-ma’asrot). According to Meiri and Shiltei Giborim, citing Riaz, however, one violates bal te’aḥer after three festivals even by failing to separate the gifts.
Torah punishments: When the obligation of terumot and ma’asrot applies by Torah law, one who intentionally eats a kezayit of produce from which the terumot have not been separated is liable to death at the hands of Heaven. Below, 8:1, we will explain when terumot and ma’asrot apply by Torah law and to which produce they apply. If the terumot were separated but the ma’asrot were not – even if only ma’aser ani was left untaken – one violates a Torah prohibition and is liable to lashes, but not to death at the hands of Heaven (MT, Laws of Forbidden Foods 10:19–20).
A zar – a non-kohen – who intentionally eats teruma is liable to death at the hands of Heaven. If witnesses warned him not to eat it and he ate it anyway, he receives lashes and is exempt from death at the hands of Heaven. If he ate teruma unwittingly, he must pay the value of what he ate plus an added fifth (MT, Laws of Terumot 6:6; 10:1). An impure kohen who intentionally eats pure teruma is likewise liable to death at the hands of Heaven; if witnesses warned him not to eat it and he ate it anyway, he receives lashes. An impure kohen who eats impure teruma violates a prohibition but does not receive lashes, while a pure kohen who eats impure teruma violates a positive mitzva but does not receive lashes (MT, Laws of Terumot 7:1–3).
An impure person who intentionally eats ma’aser sheni in Jerusalem receives lashes. If he eats it outside Jerusalem, he receives rabbinic lashes, makkat mardut. Likewise, one who eats ma’aser sheni produce while pure before it has entered Jerusalem violates a positive mitzva and receives rabbinic lashes (MT, Laws of Ma’aser Sheni and Neta Reva’i 3:1; 2:5–6). The punishment of lashes was administered only when there were courts with ordained judges, whose ordination traced back from teacher to student to Moshe Rabbeinu. A person became liable to lashes only if witnesses warned him before he sinned and he nevertheless brazenly sinned before them.
